The NET or Internet, as is commonly referred to, is basically a network of various types of computers, connected over telecommunication lines, communicating with each other through a protocol known as Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) for the purpose of exchanging information. Being “connected to the Internet” can mean anything from sending a simple message to a colleague across the state, to logging into another computer halfway around the world to search and retrieve text, graphics, sounds and even movies. Accessing the Internet requires a computer which has TCP/IP communication capabilities and is physically connected to the Internet with an identifiable Internet address. Many Internet service providers, such as Prodigy, America On Line, and CompuServe, offer access to the Internet through their TCP/IP compatible UNIX computers already connected to the Internet. A subscriber to one of these service providers need only have a personal computer and modem to make a telecommunication connection to the service provider's UNIX computer.
Various information exchanges on the Internet are available through functions such as electronic message exchange (E-mail) and File Transfer Protocol (FTP or ftp.). Electronic mail is a service that allows two people to send messages to each other in a near real time manner. Messages can be sent to one address or multiple addresses. E-mail can also be used to retrieve documents from other computers on the Internet. FTP refers to moving files from one place to another on the Internet. The files may contain electronic documents, images, sounds, etc. Anything stored on the computer can be moved with FTP.
In recent years, a new mode of navigating through the Internet called the World Wide Web (WWW) has emerged which provides a hypertext interface to information on the Internet. The WWW uses the client-server model of computer interaction, with the server being a computer on the Internet providing information, and the client being a computer retrieving the information. The normal way to navigate through the Internet is by moving through directory trees of information, whereby moving from node to node requires providing an address for each node. Likewise if the nodes are Internet sites, computers on the Internet, movement from one site to another requires providing an address for each site. In contrast, with the hypertext interface information can be stored and retrieved in a nonhierarchical structure. In essence, one can “jump” from one place of information on the Internet to another through a series of “hypertext links” created by someone. A hypertext link can literally allow one to simply select a word, using a mouse or key command, and immediately be transported to another document on the Internet halfway around the world.
In a hypertext interface all the technical aspects of moving from computer to computer are hidden, leaving the client free to explore without interference. Communication through the WWW function is by a HyperText Transport Protocol (HTTP) which uses a HyperText Markup Language (HTML). The HTML uses Uniform Resource Locators (URLs), which are a way of specifying the location of something on the Internet, to make the hypertext links. A standard form of URL address for accessing a particular word 26 marked by HTML, in a chapter called Web-chapter, in a book stored on a hard drive in a WWW server is: http://dgf21.xpr.cs.wwu/book/Web-chapter.html#word 26. The http connection at the beginning identifies this address to the Internet as a WWW server.
Access to the WWW requires a software tool typically referred to as a client or browser, which is installed on the computer used to access the Internet, or installed on an Internet service provider's computer on the Internet that offers access to the WWW browser. Browsers may be text based line browsers or, graphical based browsers such as Mosaic or Netscape.
The Internet is being increasingly used for commerce by companies, with Internet sites or services, providing opportunities to consumers to make purchases. In addition to automated secured transactions, commerce on the Internet requires development of software based marketing tools unique to the Internet structure. Typically, when a client's Web browser points to another Web server via a hypertext link, the URL address of the Web server will display the address of the transferee Internet site that the Web browser will jump to if the hypertext link transfer is executed. As a result, consumers may feel a reluctance to conduct transactions through a transferee Internet site they have not directly signed on with, have not had a long standing relationship with, or have not developed a comfort level with the transferee Internet site's label, brand and Web site content.
Accordingly, there is a need for customized marketing of consumer services through hypertext based communications wherein the content of the hypertext based communications is dynamically customized to take advantage of a consumer's existing familiarity with a specific Internet site marketing partner.